When I was a young boy, my father took me into the city. On the way there, Dad asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. Ready for the question, the name flew from my young mouth: "Spider-man!" After promptly being told that getting bit by a radioactive spider may not yield extremely positive results, I decided to settle for my second best option, which happened to be a motorcycle driver.
While we usually don't end up becoming what we wanted to be as children, that isn't inherently a bad thing. Most of the time, it isn't that we fail to achieve our dreams, it's that our dreams and our definition of success change. For example, as cool as Spider-man is, I don't particularly want to be him anymore. He's not even my favorite superhero (for the record, it's not Nightcrawler).
Now I'd like to be a touring musician who writes books on the side. Is that a hard goal to strive for? Yes. Does that mean I should choose something easier? No.
I've had countless people tell me that I need to look for a real job. Some people will even say that I'd end up living under a bridge. Ignoring the fact that homelessness is a serious problem and should not be joked about, these are not the kind of things you should say to people. With that in mind, let's take a look at what success is.
Believe it or not, there is more than just one definition of success. Just because someone isn't a doctor or a CEO making tons of money, does not mean they aren't successful. No path is easy, so don't put people down for trying to get to where they want to be in life. Honestly, if I ended up living in a Tumbleweed Tinyhome writing books and articles making just enough to stay comfortable, I'd consider that successful.
A lot of this happens when we get to college. "What do you expect to do with an Art/English/History/Music/Theater major?" However, imagine where the world would be without people in these fields. No movies, books, TV shows, documentaries, or art. How boring of a world would we live in if there nobody studied art?
"You don't need a degree for that!" This is another common response I hear, but what these people don't realize is there is so much more that you get out of college than a degree. You get connections. You make friends. You obtain resources. These are all things that can help you make your way through your dream career. Sometimes these connections are even more beneficial than the degree itself. Also, it's so hard to get taken seriously in just about any field without a degree because it shows that you know what you're doing and that you worked hard to get where you are. Going to college for an unconventional major should not be viewed as any less prudent than going to college for a medical degree or a business degree. All of these degrees are useful and necessary for our society.
So this one goes out to the Art majors, to the students who settle for a major they don't want because they're scared to chase their dreams, and to the students who have no idea which direction is the right one. Chase your dreams, and maybe one day you can be a motorcycle-riding Spider-man.
